Culture Shock
by changethestars
Summary: Bella Swan is sent to a prestigious boarding school as a mousy, shy student. Somewhere along the way, she meets a group of very interesting people, shaking up everything in her dull life. M for a reason, kids.


Sitting uncomfortably in the backseat of a taxi zipping through the crowded streets of Boston, I remembered the reason I hated my mother.

I scrolled through the playlist my friend, Angela, made for me before I left Phoenix. The sleepy Snow Patrol tune made my eyelids heavy, so I browsed until I landed on a more upbeat Incubus song. But, upbeat was the last thing I was feeling. It believe it was last Thursday when my entire world was rained down on. Alright, that's a tad bit over dramatic, but it sure felt that way.

My mother had dropped the boarding school bomb on me.

Renee was a highly respected sports public relations agent, caring for all the needs of elite athletes. Well, apparently she cared for more needs than the job entailed. I snickered at my own thoughts. Six months ago, she got engaged to a baseball player, Phil Dwyer. Three months ago, he moved into our small Phoenix loft. Four days ago, Renee informed me that I would be spending the rest of my high school experience in a swanky uptown-Boston boarding school.

And now, here I was, with my legs sticking to the vinyl seat of a grimy taxi, my sundress riding up on my thigh.

The vehicle began to slow down as we approached a well-groomed lawn, with nothing but hundreds of trees and a gravel path.

"Urm...excuse me, sir, but are you sure this is the right place?" I asked, my voice barely above a mumble.

The driver huffed turned back to me. "It's 170 Centre Street, sweetheart. Milton Academy. That where you headin'?"

I grimaced at both the sweetheart comment and his heavy accent.

"Yes, that's it."

He flashed a big grin and began down the twisting road. The farther we drove, the more people we saw walking. Eventually, we pulled up to a large brick main house. I pulled a handful of bills out of my backpack and put together the fare, throwing in twenty extra. The driver helped carry my bags to the door.

"You have a nice day, little lady," he said after setting down my luggage.

I smiled a tiny bit. "You too."

I managed to open the heavy door of the building and walked in, the weight of my bags making me waddle awkwardly. I set them down and approached the front desk.

A tiny, round woman, with half moon glasses perched on the bump of her nose, smiled up and me. "Hello, dear. How may I help you? Oh, you're not a student, are you? No, I'd remember such a pretty face." She sure was a talker, but she seemed friendly.

"I'm a transfer, from Phoenix, actually. Isabella Swan."

The woman smiled knowingly. "Of course! You're mother called just an hour ago, seeing if you had arrived. I have your file right over...here! Here we go. Well, let's see. They have you up in East Campus, Hathaway House, Room 34. Here's your key. I'll call up an RA-that's a room adviser, to help you with those bags."

That lady had a mouth going a mile a minute. I thanked her and took a seat in the lobby, fiddling with my cell phone to avoid talking with any of the students coming in and out.

The small woman that gave me my key told me the room advisor was here. She was pretty. Pretty enough to make me sink in my seat when she looked my way.

"Hey, I'm Berkeley, I'm a senior here. I'll be your R.A. for Hathaway this year," she said, extending her hand.

I shook it limply and muttered my response. "Bella."

As she took the liberty of grabbing a bag and hoisting it over her shoulder, I took in her appearance. Tall, athletic looking, curly chestnut hair, natural looking makeup, making my face feel bare and ugly.

I lifted the other two bags and followed her out the back of the main house.

"I'm glad you're a light packer. They sure housed you way out East. But you'll love Milton; it's not all stuffy and...old," Berkeley told me. The way she described it let me know she wasn't just reciting the brochure, she actually liked the school. I wondered if she was forced to come here, too.

Taking in a breath, I thought it would be best to contribute to the conversation. "Pretty campus. Nothing like Phoenix. Everything's very...green."

Berkeley giggled. "Yeah, Milton's big on the shrubbery. So, what's Phoenix like?"

"Nothing too special, really. Hot. Boring. Lousy." I had to admit, my last statement was heavily pointed towards Renee.

Berkeley began to talk about her several siblings in Wyoming, but I tuned out to take in the surroundings. Almost everything was some shade of green; trees, bushes, flowers, vines. Pretty much a polar opposite from the barren deserts of Phoenix.

Several boys were tossing a frisbee around on a lawn to our right, something I honestly believed happened in movies. On the left, two girls with huge cameras were snapping pictures of people walking by. I tried to keep my face covered, assuring my face wouldn't show up in any of the photos.

"This is Hathaway coming up. Bella?" Berkeley's voice snapped my head away from all the thing happening around us. I looked where she was looking, and saw a gorgeous brick building, this one much wider and taller than the main house.

"Crazy, right? It's even bigger inside. What room are you in?"

I pulled out the sheet I had been given and handed it over.

"Room 34, double residence. So you already have a roommate. 34, let me think who's in there. I wanna say her name's Allison, maybe Alyssa? Watch out. She's been caught with a few boys in her dorm afterhours."

I followed her in the house, where people were sprawled out on chairs and sofas around the lobby. She led me up the steep wooden staircase, and all the way down a hall on the fourth story.

"And here we are. I'm gonna let you get settled in with your new roommate, but if you need anything at all, I'm room 27, second floor. I'll come by and check on you after dinner, make sure everything's alright," she said, setting my bags down at the door.

"Thanks. I know it's your job, but thanks for helping me out," I told her shyly.

Berkeley smiled warmly and pulled me into a hug. "It's no problem. It was nice to meet you, Bella."

I mustered the courage to knock softly on the dorm door. I waited outside for at least two minutes to try again. Right before my fist made contact with the door, it flung open, and a boy several inches above me scooted out.

He slid right past me, giving me a once-over and a slow smile spread over his face, making me extremely uncomfortable.

I waited for him to turn the corner to the stairs before I shuffled inside, searching for my roommate.

I heard a girl's voice from down a small hallway. "Eddieeeeee! Is that you? I thought you already lef-oh, you're not Edward!," the tiny girl giggled. She was short, maybe five one at the most, with pin straight, jet black hair to her shoulders. She flipped her bangs to the side and oogled me for a minute. "Bella? I'm guessing you're Bella. You're Bella, right?"

What was with these Boston people and their wordy selves?

"Yeah, that's me. Are you my roommate?" I asked, a very stupid question. What else would this girl be doing in this room, with all her stuff spread around. I felt embarrassed and expected her to look at me strangely or roll her eyes.

Her face lit up with a large smile. "Indeed I am. I'm Alice Brandon. You have no idea how excited to have someone living here again! Last roommate- total fucking loon. You're not a total fucking loon, are you?" Hearing the swear word come out of someone so tiny shocked me. Well, hearing anyone swear came as a shock to me.

I snorted a little and covered my mouth. "Definitely not a loon," I assured her. "So...um, sorry for asking, but was that boy leaving your boyfriend?"

Now it was her turn to laugh hysterically.

"Edward? My boyfriend? Oh, honey, noooo! He's just a close friend. Did he bother you? Leave it to Edward to scare off my roomie in the first hour."

"No, he didn't bother me. I promise."

Alice smiled and sighed of relief, and once again, her face lit up as bright as a star. "How about you change out of that dress, change into something a little more teenager, a little less grandma," She laughed. The comment was mean, but the way she said it made it feel like a joke, not intended to hurt my feelings. So I tried very hard not to let it. "Then I can introduce you to the rest of my friends. After all, you're gonna be part of our group soon. I can just tell."


End file.
